1923 - A Turning Point for the Weimar Republic

1923 - A Turning Point for the Weimar Republic

The Invasion of the Ruhr

Following defeat in the First World War, Germany’s economy was in turmoil. However, in 1921

the allied powers decided – as required by the Treaty of Versailles – that the total sum of reparations

to be paid by Germany would amount to 229 million Goldmarks, a sum that was to be changed

later. Since Germany was not even close to being able to pay that sum, it was decided that the total

had to be paid within 42 years. As early as 1922 Germany could not keep up with the payment of

reparations, but the French in particular were determined to force Germany to pay what they owed.

In January 1923 the French government lots its patience and sent troops to

invade the Ruhr, Germany’s most valuable industrial area. The French

believed that they had every right to occupy the area to extract the

reparations themselves. The French prime minister at the time, Raymond

Poincare, said that letting the Germans break the terms of the Treaty of

Versailles in regards of the war reparations, would create a precedent that

would lead Germany to ignore the rest of the Treaty.

The French and Belgian troops took over the iron and steel factories, coal

mines and railways. Those Germans who lived in the Ruhr and were

considered not to be cooperating were imprisoned.

Weimar’s government responded by ordering the workers in the Ruhr to go on strike. It also ordered

all people in the Ruhr to passively resist the French and Belgian soldiers. This meant that they were

not to openly confront the members of the occupying forces, but that they

were not to help them in any way whatsoever. This led to violence and, over

the next 8 months of the occupation, about 130 people were killed.

The order for workers to go on a general strike may have been taken for

patriotic reasons but it had disastrous consequences for Germany as a whole.

The Ruhr was Germany’s richest economic area and produced a great deal

of wealth for the country. By not producing any goods, Germany’s economy

started to suffer. Though on strike, the workers still had to be paid. To do

this, the government did the worst thing possible – it printed money to cover

the costs… DRAMATIC MUSIC ;)

Simplicissimus, German satire magazine

Hyperinflation

As a result of the expensive war, Germany experienced

inflation. To make things worse the Treaty of Versailles

demanded that Germany pay reparations amounting to 229

million Goldmarks.

Germany could not cope with the repayments. In addition to

that, German businessmen had been speculating with German

money, and this made the problem worse. As the value of the

mark spiraled out of control, the price of ordinary goods

increased dramatically. By January 1923 the price of a loaf of

bread had already reached 250 marks.

When the German government – in order to

pay the workers on strike in the occupied Ruhr area – started to print money to

cover these costs, the consequences for the country were disastrous. By doing so,

the rest of the world could see that Germany did not have enough money to pay

for the country’s day-to-day needs. As a result, whatever money had been

invested in Germany was removed by foreign investors, since the country was no

longer considered a secure place for profitable investment.

Overnight the life savings of hundreds of thousands of people became worthless and many people

became destitute. The majority of the public was furious. Old people living on

fixed pensions, or people who lived on their savings found that these were now

worthless. Ordinary workers found it harder to buy food to feed their families,

even though their wages and unemployment benefits rose dramatically in an

attempt to counteract the devaluation of the Mark. Children would use the money

to play with, while families often used the paper currency to burn in ovens.

Hyperinflation happened so fast that at some point they used the old money and

printed a new number on top of the old one.

By the middle of 1923 the Germans were billionaires. They had to use baskets to carry their wages

home. Since farmers were no longer willing to exchange their products for money, swapping goods

became the only way to get food.

Hyperinflation reached its peak in November 1923. In August a new chancellor had been appointed,

Gustav Stresemann. He called for an end to passive resistance in the Ruhr as he could see that the

printing of more money was causing prices to

spiral out of control. Stresemann realized that

Germany would become bankrupt if this trend

continued. In order to stop inflation and to

stabilize the economy he therefore introduced a

new ‘temporary’ currency called the Rentenmark.

By 1924 the economy had stabilized sufficiently.

The Reichsmark was brought in to replace the

Rentenmark as the permanent currency.

Inflation

Inflation means that prices

continue to rise and wages do not

rise in line with them. This makes

it harder for people to afford the

goods that are on sale.

Example

1918: a loaf of bread = 0,63 marks

1922: a loaf of bread = 163 marks

Simplicissimus, German satire magazine, June 1923 Das habe ich nicht gewollt

Simplicissimus 1922

The Munich Putsch / The Beer Hall Putsch

When the German government decided to give in to the French demands to resume making

payments in September 1923, the people were resentful. The Nazis and other similar groups felt

that now was the right time to strike.

On November 8th, 1923, a large gathering of businessmen took place in a Munich

beer hall and the guests of honor were several Bavarian ministers. It should be

noted that Bavaria had a very strong right-wing movement. While the prime

minister of Bavaria was delivering a speech, Adolf Hitler and armed storm

troopers entered the building. Hitler jumped onto a table and fired a shot in the

air. He then told the audience that the Munich Putsch was taking place and the

National Revolution had begun.

Hitler took Gustav von Kahr (Bavarian prime minister), Otto von Lossow

(Commander of the Bavarian Army) and Hans von Seisser (Commandant of the Bavarian State

Police) into another room. There he told them that he was to be the new leader of Germany and

offered them posts in his new government.

Inspired by Mussolini's successful “March on Rome” that brought the Fascists to

power in Italy in October 1922, Hitler planned to make his move with a parallel

“March on Berlin” to seize control of the national government. However, they had

not thought of taking control of the radio stations and the telegraph offices. This

meant that the national government in Berlin had already heard about Hitler’s

putsch.

The next day Adolf Hitler, Erich Ludendorff, Hermann Goering and 3,000 armed

supporters of the Nazi Party marched through Munich in an attempt to join up

with forces at the War Ministry that Röhm had seized the day before. They found

the road blocked by the Munich police. When the rebels refused to stop shots were

fired. During the next few minutes about 20 people were killed and another

hundred were wounded.

When the firing started Adolf Hitler scooted away into a waiting car, leaving his

comrades behind. The rest of the Nazis scattered or were arrested.

After hiding for several days, Adolf Hitler was

arrested and put on trial for treason. The media attention

surrounding the Beer Hall Putsch and the trial increased Hitler’s

popularity. The Nazi propaganda machinery made sure that this

failed putsch was celebrated as a heroic defeat. It soon became

clear that the Nazi sympathizers in the Bavarian government were

going to make sure that Hitler would not have to stay in prison for

too long. He was originally sentenced to 5 years of prison but was already released after roughly 8

months in Landsberg am Lech. It is said that the judicial system of the Weimar Republic turned a

blind eye to the right. While being in prison, Hitler wrote “Mein Kampf”, which would become

the ‘bible of the Nazi movement’.

With the collapse of the Nazi Beer Hall Putsch, it now appeared to most observers that Hitler’s

political career and the Nazi movement had come to a crashing, almost laughable end.

Comparison of two historic daily newspapers

on the Munich Putsch on November 9. 1923

Vorwärts, Socialdemocratic newspaper

Völkischer Beobachter, National Socialist newspaper

Ruhr Crisis

Hyperinflation

Hitler Putsch (Beer Hall Putsch)

Ruhr Crisis•

Hyper inflation

Hitler Putsch

1923 – A Turning Point in the Weimar Republic

International Social Economic Political

- Germany and Russia are

excluded from the

international Conference in

Genoa on Reparations in

1922

- the two political outcasts

meet each other in Rapallo

(outside of Genoa, Italy)

- The Treaty of Rapallo was an

agreement signed on 16 April

1922 between Germany and

Russia under which each

renounced all territorial and

financial claims against the

other after WWI

- The two governments also

agreed to normalize their

diplomatic relations and to

"co-operate in a spirit of

mutual goodwill in meeting

the economic needs of both

countries".

- France and Belgium invade

and occupy the industrial

heartland Germany, the Ruhr

Area, in January 1923 after

Germany was not able to pay

reparations, to seize payment

directly in the form of goods,

resources and machinery, they

take over the iron and steel

factories, coal mines and

railways

- Socially, the invasion creates

terrible tension in the area:

over the next 8 months of the

occupation, 132 people are

killed and over 150,000 Ruhr

Germans are evicted

- The government calls on the

people to go on strike and

adopt a policy of passive

resistance, rather than produce

goods to give to the French

- The government guarantees

the workers their salaries

throughout the entire strike

- in order to plug the gap in

the economy created by a

sudden lack of production in

the Ruhr, the German

government simply prints off

more paper money

- because the money is not

backed up by genuine

wealth, businesses don’t trust

it as much, so they raise their

prices – inflation, so the

government prints even more

money

- very quickly, prices go

through the roof and the

amount of money in

circulation reaches crazy

proportions – hyperinflation

- hard-earned life savings

become worthless and the

republic has more enemies

- economically, passive

resistance quickly means that

Germany’s economy grinds

to a halt, and by November

1923 it has totally collapsed

- USA intervenes, since it

relies on the debt repayment

of GB and F, who can in turn

only pay with the reparations

of G – currency reform

- Adolf Hitler, the chair of the

NSDAP (founded 1920), from

1921-1945 sees the agreement

between France and Germany

as a spineless act of surrender

to the French

- Bavaria, nationalist and

conservative right-wing

government, acts against the

national democratic

government

- Beer Hall Putsch in Munich,

Bavaria November 9, 1923

- Hitler and his associates (e.g.

Ludendorff) plan to seize

Munich and later to use

Munich as a base for a march

against Germany's Weimar

Republic government,

following Mussolini’s March

on Rome in Italy

Result:

- Failed coup/putsch attempt

- Reichswehr victory

- Arrest and imprisonment of

NSDAP leadership for high

treason (Problem: lenient

prison sentences allow early

release)

- Short-term ban of Nazi Party